The European Central Bank

Author(s):  
Chiara Zilioli ◽  
Phoebus Athanassiou

The provisions on Monetary Union (MU), of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU or the Treaty), as well as the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (the Statute), are important in their own right, and are amongst those from which any student of the European Union (EU) can learn a great deal with regard to the EU.

Author(s):  
Herwig C H Hofmann

One of the European Union’s most ambitious policy projects to date is the ‘economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro’ (EMU, Article 3(4) TEU). The EMU’s two polices—the economic union and the monetary union—are an unequal set of twins. On one hand, the monetary union’s central elements are well developed: as an element of substance, the introduction of the euro as a single currency; as an institutional achievement, the creation of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) together with the European Central Bank (ECB) on the EU level as a highly independent body having the power to adopt a diverse range of measures. Additionally, the Treaties contain specific provisions on the goals and principles of monetary policy.


Author(s):  
Luis Ángel Hierro ◽  
Antonio José Garzón ◽  
Helena Domínguez-Torres

This paper describes the monetary policy of the European Central Bank since the birth of the Euro. The different economic situations and the monetary policies implemented during the mandate of each one of the three ECB presidents are analysed as a process of evolution. We study the situations of cyclical asynchrony together with the response given to it by the European monetary authority. We also assess the change experienced by the main economic indicators of the twelve founding countries during the 20 years of the single currency. The main conclusion obtained is that monetary policy has evolved from the strict approach defined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to an approach closer to that of the rest of central banks, which we have called “monetary realpolitik”.


Author(s):  
C. Randall Henning

The regime complex for crisis finance in the euro area included the European Council, Council of the European Union, and Eurogroup in addition to the three institutions of the troika. As the member states acted largely, though not exclusively, through the council system, these bodies stood at the center of the institutional mix. This chapter reviews the institutions as a prelude to examining the dilemmas that confronted them over the course of the crises. It presents a brief review of some of the basic facts about their origins, membership, and organization. Each section then delves more deeply into these institutions’ governance and principles to understand their capabilities and strategic challenges. As a consequence of different mandates and design, the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund diverged with respect to their approach to financing, adjustment, conditionality, and debt sustainability. This divergence set the stage for institutional conflict in the country programs.


Author(s):  
M. R. Saliya

The article discusses the issue of legal regulation of the digital currency of central banks. The experience of international organizations, as well as the fi rst steps in this direction from China, represented by the People’s Bank of China and the European Union, represented by the European Central Bank, are examined.


2007 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 43-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Bobek

On 1 may 2004, 10 new Member States joined the European Union. This meant inter alia that, save for the express derogations provided for in the Act of Accession, the entire mass of Community secondary legislation became binding in the new Member States. This principle of the immediate effects of Community law in the new Member States was provided for in Article 2 AA: From the date of Accession, the provisions of the original Treaties and the acts adopted by the institutions and the European Central Bank before Accession shall be binding on the new Member States and shall apply in those States under the conditions laid down in those Treaties and in this Act.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-62
Author(s):  
Diane Fromage

Following the Great Financial Crisis, the European Central Bank’s functions have been significantly altered. It is now involved in the functioning of a variety of European Union bodies and agencies, new powers in the field of banking supervision have been attributed to it and it has resorted to unconventional monetary policy. Such a concentration of powers arguably gives rise to issues of accountability and institutional balance within the European Union: (i) the resulting institutional framework is particularly complex and difficult to understand; (ii) the numerous functions the European Central Bank assumes makes it increasingly difficult to identify in which arena(s) it should be held to account for which action; and (iii) its role in the different bodies or agencies may vary in theory and in practice, which, in turn, influences the degree to which the European Central Bank should be held to account. This article aims at showing to what extent the European Central Bank’s role has multiplied and diversified with a view to assess how it is held to account in those different instances, and what the consequences are for the European Central Bank’s democratic accountability, primarily towards the European Parliament, as well as towards the Council of the European Union and national parliaments where applicable.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
Wojciech Gasiński ◽  
Anna Misztal

The aim of this paper is to present the price stability oriented monetary policy of the European Central Bank. The European Central Bank began activities in 1998 and the primary objective of the European System of Central Banks is to maintain price stability and the ESCB should also support the general economic policies in the Community. Monetary policy is a special tool that national governments and central banks uses to influence on its economy, especially to control the supply of money and to influence on the level of economic indicators. This paper investigates the assumed objective of the European System of Central Banks which is to maintain price stability. What is more, we would like to present the monetary policy strategy of the European Central Bank and analysis of the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices.


Teisė ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 198-208
Author(s):  
Vytautas Vaškelaitis

Straipsnyje analizuojama centrinio banko nepriklausomumo problema istoriniu, teoriniu ir taikomuoju požiūriais. Iškeliami nepriklausomumo argumentai, atskleidžiama jo esmė, apibrėžiamos nepriklauso­mumo ribos, aptariamas veiklos skaidrumas. Prieinama prie išvados, kad centrinis bankas turėtų būti nepriklausomas nuo vyriausybės, kartu jo veiklą derinant su įstatymų leidžiamuoju ir vykdomuoju vals­tybės institutais. Tyrimo kontekste nagrinėjami pokyčiai, susiję su Europos ekonominės ir pinigų sąjun­gos susikūrimu, nepriklausomumo dimensija Europos centrinių bankų sistemos formate. Nustatoma, kad šiomis sąlygomis kai kuriose srityse nacionaliniai centriniai bankai turi savarankiškumą, kitose – Eu­ropos centrinis bankas naudojasi nacionalinių centrinių bankų paslaugomis, be to, Europos centrinis bankas veikia visiškai savarankiškai. The article analyzes the problem of central bank independence a historical, theoretical, and practice terms. The independence of the arguments raised, disclosed in its essence, defines the limits of inde­pendence, the transparency of the operation in question. Accessible to the conclusion that the central bank should be independent from the government, while its activity in combination with the legislative and executive state institutions. The study examined the context of changes in European economic and monetary union within the independence dimension of the European System of Central Banks in format. Determined that under these conditions in some areas of the national central banks have independence, the other – the European Central Bank uses the services of national central banks, in addition to an­other – the European Central Bank is fully independent.


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